The 12 member panel is charged with trimming 1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. If the panel can’t come up with enough savings, automatic cuts go into effect and Medicare is one of the programs that’s on the chopping block.

My guess is cuts will target providers and hospitals and beneficiaries will be untouched. Afterall, what congress person in their right mind wants to upset Medicare beneficiaries the year before an election.

Those of us who work in the health care industry, especially the hospital sector, recognize how slim Medicare margins are and how difficult it is to make ends meet at current reimbursement levels. In a hospital like GVMH, Medicare is our life’s blood. The payments we get from Medicare keep the lights on and the doors open. Medicare also represents the bulk of the patients we serve and make well every day.

There’s no doubt congress needs to reign in spending and fix entitlement programs, let’s just hope they don’t do so at the expense of rural hospitals like ours. I’m an optimistic person by nature but I’m also a realist and realistically I predict there are significant reductions in reimbursement in the near future…

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About Craig Thompson

I am a young professional with two great sons, and I work in the healthcare setting. I am employed in hospital administration and serve as Chief Operating Officer at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Clinton, Missouri.
These are challenging and exciting times in healthcare and my blog will focus on healthcare, raising boys or being raised by boys, and living in mid America.